Club 80-90 Forums

Ok I am embarassed about this, but I need to make sure there's enough oil in the van before the missus goes away camping with her mate tomorrow.


The dipstick has two possible indicators. There are two notches which could be the upper and lower limits.
There's also a bent section slightly higher up..

Which one should the oil level be sitting at?!

Thank you

Very bad photo taken in dark with very bad diagram:

[img1024]http://www.chrisjohnson.co.uk/joker/dipstick.jpg[/img]

Should be between the two notches.

thanks mate much appreciated

It's hard to tell from that photo, but what you've got labelled as "two notches" looks like the bottom notch to me (i.e. minimum oil level) and what you've got labelled as "bendy bit" looks like the top notch (i.e. max. oil level).

I don't have a westy though, so I could be talking a load of b*ll*cks! What engine is it?

Tony

1.6TD

Am pretty sure the notches are a whole seperate bit - the bendy section presumably has a purpose - unless it's just to confuse newbies!

Just looked at it again, I think I've mis-judged the scale of the stick in the photo!

Tony

The two notches are indeed the upper and lower limits,
so an oil level anywhere between the two should be okay.

It just so happens that the clever chaps at VW made the distance between the two marks equal to 1 litre of oil (at least that's what I have found).
So if you run the motor until the oil is at the lower notch it will take one litre of oil to return it to the upper notch.

Titus A Duxass wrote:The two notches are indeed the upper and lower limits,
so an oil level anywhere between the two should be okay.

It just so happens that the clever chaps at VW made the distance between the two marks equal to 1 litre of oil (at least that's what I have found).
So if you run the motor until the oil is at the lower notch it will take one litre of oil to return it to the upper notch.

Yes I accidentally overfilled mine a tad on my last French trip. I pulled out of an Aire and just as I reached cruising speed I left behind me a massive cloud of smoke. After pulling over I dipped the oil and found it to be at the correct level - top nick. No problems since so I assume that it splashed over into the area under the pistons and somehow got eaten/ejected. It don't burn much either.
Cheers
Ken

I think the bendy bit just holds the dip stick snuggly in the guide tube.

As all have said....min and max level indicators.
Although anywhere between the two is acceptable I would suggest you keep it close to the max. (this is what a good garage would do on a service)
Remember to check on level ground (very important) run the engine for 10 sec, stop and dip after 1 minute for most accurate reading.
Warm oil will indicate higher level than cold.
Martin